Jim Six: In search of the Golden Ticket

View full sizePhoto providedGreg Jones had to audition for "The X Factor" without his guitar.

The trouble was, Greg Jones had never planned for what came next.

Greg, a talented singer, guitarist and writer, lived the dream last week when he went to Greensboro, N.C. to audition for “The X Factor” TV show.

Back in January, Greg’s story was featured here.

At 40, he wanted to give this wild ride a shot and see where it took him.

He’d been excited when “The X Factor” first appeared — it was the first talent competition that wasn’t wholly focused on youth.

He’d had some musical success years back, but now, as a father of two working who sells real estate, he wanted to give it another shot.

When we talked to him several months ago, he was only vaguely considering making a run for “The X Factor.”

Then he registered for a May 1 audition in North Carolina.

It was only an open call audition, he knew. Lots of people there.

He drove down from his home in Swedesboro Sunday a week ago. Went to the cheapest hotel he could find in Greensboro and prepared for Tuesday’s audition. That consisted mostly of being anxious, nervous and raring to go.

“Everywhere in the hotel, people were singing, non-stop. They were singing in restaurants, even in the grocery store check-out lines,” said Greg. He figures the auditions had attracted at least 10,000 people, counting families and friends.

Greg made his trek alone.

He stood in a long line at the Greensboro Coliseum to register. They told him the rules. He’d sing a cappella, one verse and one chorus of one song. A yes is a yes. A no is a no. Don’t ask the judge anything and don’t touch one of the judges.

So Greg was ready. He kept a slew of friends up to date with frequent Facebook updates.

The crowd that lined up Tuesday outside the Coliseum turned out to be about 8,500 people. All day, Greg would post his progress and we, his friends, would wish him well.

Greg joined the line at about 6:30 a.m. Six hours later, he got into the Coliseum. Five hours after that, he had his audition. That meant five hours of hearing many of those who went before him.

“It was unnerving. The talent was unbelievable. There were people who were trained singers, people who sing for a living. I’d think, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is one of the best I’ve ever heard.’ And then they’d walk away,” Greg said.

He went to sing at 5:30 p.m.

They told him all the rules again.

He sang a verse and chorus from Bob Dylan’s song, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”

The judge “just stared at me,” Greg said.

“Do you have anything more current?” the judge asked him.

“I said, ‘Sure.’ I got so nervous,” said Greg. He was doing a second song.

He did “Trouble” by Ray LaMontagne.

“Again, he just stared at me. Then he said, ‘Get away from the singer/songwriter acoustic-guitar genre. Do you know anything more pop?’” Greg said.

The judge nodded, so Greg sang “Over the Rainbow.” Greg does an amazing “Over the Rainbow,” believe me.

“I was in the middle of the song and saw him grab the Golden Ticket. I was over the moon,” said Greg. “I can’t put it into words.”

The Golden Ticket. It means you’ve been invited to come back for a second audition.

Greg immediately notified his FB followers, some of whom — like me — had been sitting there, refreshing Greg’s page over and over to see how he made out.

He no sooner let us all know he’d gotten the Golden Ticket than the announcement disappeared.

“They ushered me into a room and had me sign a release and a contract. Then they said those going on to a second audition were not permitted to let anyone know about it on Facebook or anywhere else.”

The entire process was being videotaped so it could be used if they made it to the actual competition.

“I panicked and started deleting everything. My brother was at home and he started helping me delete stuff, too,” said Greg.

“I deleted the history of it from my Facebook page, so it was almost like it didn’t happen.”

After so many hours in line, he was starving, so he went to a restaurant for dinner.

“I sat there literally giggling to myself. People must have thought I was a lunatic.

Still, getting through the audition was an amazing feeling. He couldn’t sleep, got only about three hours that night.

The next morning, he went for the second audition. There were only about 500 people — out of the 8,500 the day before. He sang. He was cut. (The guy right in front of him, although a little taller, had the same shaved head, soul patch beard look as Greg. He figures that didn’t help much.)

“My main goal was to get past the first round and not get turned down after a 30-second audition. I didn’t plan past that. I sort of sold myself short by not envisioning past that,” said Greg.

To be part of the small group that made the first cut was “staggering in itself.” He has no regrets.

“There’s always next year and there are other shows. Oh, my gosh, absolutely I would do it again,” Greg said.

“I know I have a talent. The voices these people had, it was humbling. Maybe I’ll get a vocal coach and improve what I do,” he said.

After his long ride home, one of Greg’s young daughters showed her support. She told him she figured they’d sent him home because he was too good.